Justifying Vengeance
by The Delphian
Summary: Through a series of events he's desperate to recall, Tony Stark finds himself thrown into an alternate dimension where he's encountered by a team of heroes much different from the one's back home. Stark suits up with the Justice League and, in return, discovers the magic of teamwork, camaraderie, and the formerly foreign concepts known as practice and training.


**A/N: I'm hoping that this will be both fun for me to write and enjoyable for you all to read. (: Your reviews are greatly appreciated.**

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**Preface**

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Tony Stark stirred in what he believed to be his slumber, feeling himself become increasingly conscious by the moment. As he continued to fidget amongst the bed sheets, he couldn't help but notice that his mattress had grown uncharacteristically stiff and that his body had become incredibly sore as a result. Stark began to wonder if he had partaken in some battle yesterday and forgot about it, for there were particularly sore spots amongst his body that he was certain were bruises. Still baffled by his discomfort, the billionaire soon discovered the reason behind his wakening: an aggravating, repetitive electronic beeping sound that sourced from beside him. Tony tried to tune it out at first, but the noise seemed to only escalate in volume.

"Jarvis, shut it off!" Stark cried, his voice sounding much weaker than he expected it would.

Frustrated, Tony attempted to roll over on his side in order to shut off what he assumed to be an alarm clock despite the fact he couldn't quite remember ever having purchased one. Before he could manage to do so, however, a cold hand came upon his shoulder in efforts to stop him. After noting the hand was much larger than that of Pepper Pots', Stark's eyes flew open in alarm.

A scream escaped Tony's throat before he could even give it permission to do so. The man wanted to get up from the bed and make a run for it, but, as though it had read his mind, the green-skinned, red-eyed, humanoid creature that stood beside him placed a second hand upon his opposing shoulder in order to prevent him from executing this plan.

"Please," said the creature in a dull, monotone voice, "remain still or you'll tear out the IV."

A sense of panic quickly flooded Stark's system as he frantically looked down to observe his body for the first time. There were tubes and wires everywhere, some even up his nose. They lay taped and inserted into his body as though he were part of some experiment, the green being beside him only adding to the allusion. He wore nothing save a hospital gown, a hole cut out of it in order to keep his chest piece visible. Faint bruises and fresh scars lined his bare arms and legs just as he had suspected, though no memory of recent combats existed within his frazzled mind. Anger and anxiety began to overflow within him and that maddening sound from earlier on suddenly took on a more rapid pace. Stark looked up to find that it had not been an alarm clock, but a heart monitor that rested at his bedside.

Once the green being removed its hands from his shoulders, Stark took the liberty of observing the remainder of his surroundings only to find that curtains shielded his view from the rest of what he assumed to be a much larger room. The only items within his sight were various machines that one typically found in a patient's hospital room, but the foreign creature that stood beside him had him assured that this was _not_ a hospital.

"Where am I?" Stark demanded, now glowering at the stoic being.

The creature gave what Stark could only interpret as an attempted smile.

"You are safe and among friends." It said, "You have been in a comatose state for nearly a month now; I am glad to see that you have finally regained consciousness."

Stark's mind was reeling at this point. Desperately, he blinked several times in attempt to wake up from this nightmare he had fallen into. Having received no positive results, he began to search his mind in some sort of wild frenzy, trying hopelessly to regain memory of the past four weeks of his life; nothing came to him.

Suddenly, a streak of horror struck Tony's heart and the man's eyes fell upon his uncovered chest piece. The flustered cyborg looked upon the arc reactor with great bewilderment, noticing that it was nothing like he remembered it to be. No, this certainly wasn't a product of _his_ craftsmanship; it looked odd, _crude_. In fact, it wasn't even arc reactor technology; the model was no better than an electromagnet hooked up to a car battery. The man's eyebrows furrowed in both frustration and confusion as he directed a glare up towards the creature beside him.

"This isn't mine." He stated harshly, "What have you _done_? This isn't mine!"

The heart monitor continued to beep furiously as Stark's rage increased, yet the creature seemed to be entirely unaffected by the man's sudden inflammation in temperament.

"Do not be alarmed." It said, "Your chest piece had ceased operating when you arrived here; I had a friend of mind create a replica. It isn't perfect, but it was all we had time for in order to keep you alive."

Stark glanced back down at the offending object; the design was all wrong. Sure, it worked, but Tony was all about the presentation. The way in which its wires jutted out unevenly was far from pretty and looking at it proved to be more than irksome. Additionally, just from eyeing it, Stark was certain that its mechanics wouldn't last him any more than a couple of weeks.

"Where is _here_, exactly?" Asked Tony, "What _happened_ to me?"

The creature gave the cyborg a sympathetic look before glancing up at the heart monitor. Stark watched intently as it observed his vitals and reached for a pen in order to record them on the chart atop the bedside table.

"There are many details of your arrival that not even _we_ are certain of." Said the creature, "Green Lantern found you floating throughout space in a metal suit upon his return from the fourth moon of Galtos. He then brought you back here to the watchtower where you were immediately treated for injuries."

Stark swallowed hard at the creature's words, once more trying to find any record of such happenings somewhere within the confines of his memory. Unfortunately, yet again, his efforts proved to be fruitless; all he was left with was whatever information this foreign being decided to feed to him.

"Holy shit," said Stark, "I've been abducted by aliens."

The creature smiled at the man's statement, finding great amusement in his words.

"Do not worry;" Said the being, "I am one of the few aboard this station. You'll find that a majority of the watchtower's residents are of your kind."

Tony remained silent; he was still trying to make sense of everything. He soon found his thoughts interrupted by the creature's approaching hand, its positioning both familiar and friendly.

"My name is J'onn J'onzz," said the creature, "I am a Martian."

Stark, for a moment, simply stared at the creature's large, green hand, but then proceeded to embrace it with his own.

"Tony Stark." He replied, "I'm Italian."

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**A/N: Review please! (: **


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